The Beach By The Boardwalk, Monday Afternoon

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

It was the first day of break and Arden was going to spend it the way the goddess had intended it: out on the beach with the salt and the sea and the sun and the sand, sorry Anakin. She was sprawled out on a blanket with a towel or two next to her and a cooler of drinks and snacks. She had a book with her for later, but right now she was enjoying the warmth while sending out a text to all the usual suspects (and a few new ones for good measure) inviting them to come and spend the day out on the beach with her.

[Open to all! If you think you got a text, you did, or maybe you just happened to be wandering up the beach and decided to chill!]

Comments

[wildgalegirl]

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Auntie drama. Aunt Jane and Aunt Ruth got into it about who made the best strawberry pie and good lord, you'd think it was the end of the world!"

She shook her head. "Nobody wanted to pick either one against the other and then Auntie Muriel said that neither of their pies were any good compared to Auntie Catherine's - who want even there! And then after that uproar that distracted them enough to get on my case because I'm Wild like Auntie Catherine and somebody should get ahold of me and make me settle some so I don't end up like her and... Ugh."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden listened, enthralled. "Yo, this is some Sunday church cookout behavior," she said. "Whole drama about whose potato salad or sweet potato pie was better and in which order the deacons should be served."

[wildgalegirl]

"Except at your cookout there probably not slinging charms around," Charlie said, "but yeah, is a whole crazy thing. Allie and I pretty much just slid out as soon as we could and hid in the treehouse."

Which was an awesome place to hang out.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Nope, just 'bless your heart's and 'tell the truth and shame the devil's, which are closer to curses than charms, gotta admit."

[wildgalegirl]

"Well a charm can be a curse, of course," Charlie said with a wicked grin. "Especially if you're pranking your cousins."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Yeah, well, you told any of those Aunties they were doing magic and all hell woulda broken loose," Arden snorted. "Good God-fearing folks only, dontcha know."

[wildgalegirl]

Charlie laughed. "Oh, I can only imagine! They're be losing their minds!"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Yyyyyyyyup," Arden said with a sigh. "It would get ugly. Probably best for everyone that didn't happen."

Arden wasn't sure Charlie's Aunties would be ready to stand against a crew of Southern Baptist Aunties, for real for real.

[wildgalegirl]

It would be an interesting meeting, that's for sure!

"Of course, my Aunties don't play fair. A charm or two and I think those Aunties would be eating out of their hands. Most normal people don't recognize something as magic even if it jumps up and bites them."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

And thank the goddess for that, or the entire Otherside would have been discovered and hunted down by now, probably.

"It would be interesting to observe, preferably through some kind of remote viewing apparatus from three counties away."

[wildgalegirl]

"Maybe another world away," Charlie agreed.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"With additional safeguards and maybe a decoy or three, just in case."

[wildgalegirl]

"Oh yeah."

A large fish swam near the shore and spit out CHarlie's phone.

Which began to wring.

"Damn," Charlie said. "I thought that would last a bit longer."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"...Did a fish just spit your phone at you?" Arden asked.

You know, making sure she was seeing this correctly.

[wildgalegirl]

Charlie sighed. "Yeah. I threw it in the ocean earlier. It always comes back, but I thought I had a little more time."

And the phone was ringing, because of course it was. "Hey, Auntie Jane. Sorry, I'm hanging out with Arden. She's another one of Graham's good friends." 'The Aunties love Graham,' she mouthed to Arden. "Yes, we're trying to see if we can go see him, so maybe I can call you back? ... Okay, yes, love you too, bye."

She tossed the phone over her shoulder and flopped back down. "Ugh."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Just checking in?" Arden laughed, though there was a bit of wistfulness to it. "Or is there more pie they need you to weigh in on?"

[wildgalegirl]

"I don't know and I don't want to," Charlie groaned. "But they like Graham, so if they think I'm talking about going to see him they'll leave me alone for a while."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"That's fair," Arden said with a laugh. "Who doesn't like Graham."

Somewhere, Liliana looked up and sneered.

[wildgalegirl]

"He certainly charmed the Aunties," Charlie said. "And he truly seemed to like them!"

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"I mean, who doesn't Graham like is the other question!" Arden asked.

[wildgalegirl]

"Very true," Charlie said. "I'm not sure I can think of anyone offhand."